Apparatus for storing hoisting equipment



Dec. 13, 1966 s, $|MKQ 3,291,318

APPARATUS FOR STORING HOISTING EQUIPMENT Filed Feb. 24, 1965 2Sheets-$heet 1 nv vs/v ran. sr PHEN s/M/ra Attorney Dec. 13, 1966 5,513,291,318

APPARATUS FOR STORING HOISTING EQUIPMENT Filed Feb. 24, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet 2 T 4 2 T 4 2 '"T- as as i 40 l 38 40 I 0 52 52 50 3.

INVENTOR. STEPHEN SIM/f0 A r rorney United States Patent 3,291,318APPARATUS FOR STORING HOISTING EQUIPMENT Stephen Simko, Homestead, Pa.,assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of DelawareFiled Feb. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 434,991 6 Claims. (Cl. 211-13) Thisinvention relates to apparatus for storing an electromagnet, a chainsling, or other equipment for hoisting heavy objects.

In large industrial plants such as a steel mill, large overhead cranesare used to lift a variety of heavy, awkward loads. Sometimes, the loadsare best carried by an electromagnet supported on the hook of theoverhead crane. The electromagnet, for instance, works best with flatplates and pieces of scrap. Other times, when wheels and axles are to betransported, a chain sling is the preferred hoisting apparatus to beattached to the crane hook.

Heretofore, the changing from one hoisting apparatus to another has beena strenuous job for the ground workman, who has had to lift manuallyheavy rings and chains which connect the hoisting apparatus to the cranehook. The weights of these rings and chains average between 75 and 100pounds, and under the present practice, they must be lifted and carriedmanually during both their engagement and disengagement with the cranehook. Not only is a great amount of physical effort thus required, butthis manual lifting of heavy equipment also presents a considerablesafety hazard.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide apparatus forstoring hoisting equipment which will permit the equipment to be engagedand disengaged from a crane hook without need for manually lifting orcarrying the chains and bull rings associated with such equipment.

This and other objects will appear more readily from the followingdescription of my invention and the attached drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of apparatus for storing an electromagnet,illustrating one embodiment of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation of apparatus for storing a chain hoist,illustrating a second embodiment of my invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIGURE 3.

In FIGURE 1, apparatus 2 is designed for storing an electromagnet A andits associated link chains B and main link or bull ring C, all shown inchain lines. The apparatus 2 has a base plate 4 to which are welded twomagnet guide plates 6, The guide plates 6 direct the magnet A into itsproper position while it is being set down on the base 4. As seen fromabove in FIGURE 2, the front ends 8 of the guide plates are flaredoutward so as to facilitate the guiding of the magnet A, and bumpingblocks 10 are welded to the base 4 near the rear of the guide plates 6to stop the lateral movement of the magnet A when the magnet has beenshifted to its proper position.

On either side of the base 4 and adjacent the guide plates 6 are weldedtwo vertical posts 12. Braces 14 are welded to the posts 12 and to thebase 4 in order to add rigidity to the posts. Arms 16 are welded to thetops of posts 12 and extend inwardly from the posts and over the storagespace for the electromagnet A. Lower brace members 18 and upper bracemembers 20 are welded together and extend diagonally between the posts12 and arms 16.

Seat members 22 for supporting the bull ring C are welded to the topends of the members 20 which extend above the arms 16. The seat members22 are saddleshaped and have curved surfaces 24 which wrap around thesides of ring C to hold the ring in a vertical, standing position. Guidemembers 26 are welded to both the upper brace members 20 and seatmembers 22 to assist in guiding ring B as it is lowered into its restingposition in seat members 22. The presence of the guide members 26 alsoprovides a more secure mounting of the seat members 22 on upper bracemembers 20.

To illustrate the use of my invention, a crane hook D with a safetyla-tch E is shown in chain lines in FIGURE 1 supporting theelectromagnet A by engagement with its bull ring C. The hook D islowered until the bottom surface of the magnet A very nearly touches thebase 4 of apparatus 2. The crane operator then moves the magnet Alaterally between the guide plates 6 until it is stopped by the bumpingblocks 10. When this occurs, the bull ring C held by the hook D shouldbe above and very nearly in line with the seat members 22. The craneoperator then lowers the hook D so as to set the magnet A down on thebase 4, and then continues to lower the hook until the bull ring C restsin the seat members 22. Guide members 26 guide the bull ring while it isbeing set on the seat members 22, and a workman located on the plantfloor may also asssis-t in directing the bull ring into place. When thering is firmly seated on the seat members 22, the workman on the floorthen disconnects the electric cable F of magnet A (FIGURE l) from itspower supply on the crane and unhooks the safety latch E. The hook D canthen be withdrawn from the ring C by the crane operator without furtherassistance from the workman on the floor.

When the electromagnet A is to be put in use again, the crane operatorsimply moves the hook D into engagement with the bull ring C, and theworkman on the floor fastens the hook safety latch and connects thecable F to its power supply on the crane. It is then a simple matter forthe crane operator to lift the bull ring C out of the seat 22 and raisethe magnet A off the base 4. The bull ring and magnet are then movedlaterally away from the area of the storage apparatus 2.

In another embodiment of my invention, shown in FIGURES 3 and 4,apparatus 30 is designed for storing a chain hoist G that includeshook-s H and associated chains I and main eye link M, all shown in chainlines. The apparatus 30 has for its main supporting frame a T-shapedbeam 32 which rests on the ground and is held in an upright position bybraces 34 welded at either end of the beam. Mounted on top of the beam32 are two vertical support members 36, to which are welded inwardlyfacing horizontal seat members 38. The main link M rests on these seatmembers and edges 40 of support members 36 partially wrap around thelink M to hold it in an upright position. Guide plates 42 are mountedadjacent the support members 36 to assist in guiding the main link Minto position as it is lowered onto the seat members 38. On the otherside of guide plates 42 are blocks 44 having converging vertical guidesurfaces 46 (FIGURE 4). These surfaces 46 are for guiding the hook D(FIGURE 3) as it is moved horizontally into engagement with the main eyelink M resting on seat members 38.

The beam member 32 has beneath seat members 38 a recess 48 through whichthe links of chains I may hang freely. Plates 50 are welded to the frontof the beam member 32 adjacent the recess 48, and plates 52 are weldedperpendicular to the plates 50 to form side walls for the recess 48. Theplates 50 and 52 thus present a smoothsurfa ced recess for housing thelinks of the chain I, so that there will be no protruding edges on whichthese links can snag.

In operation, the chain hoist G is placed on the apparatus 30 bylowering the main eye link M supported by the crane hook D onto the seatmembers 38. As the main 3 link M is lowered it is guided into its properposition by the guide plates 42. When the link M is seated on the seatmembers 38, the hooks H of the chain hoist lay on the floor adjacent theapparatus 2, as shown in FIGURE 3, with the links of chains J dependingthrough the recess 48 of the beam member 32. The only work performed bythe ground workman in this operation is in assisting in the guiding ofthe main eye link M onto the seat members 38, and in unfastening thesafety latch of the crane hook D.

When the chain hoist G is to be picked up by the crane hook D, the craneoperator moves the hook between the converging guide surfaces 46 ofblocks 44 and into engagement with the main eye link M resting on theseat members 38. When this is accomplished, the ground Workman fastensthe safety latch on the hook D, and the crane operator raises the hookand attached eye link off of the seats 38. The chain hoist G is thencarried away from the storage apparatus 30.

While several embodiments of my invention have been shown and described,it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for storing an electromagnet and its associated bull ring,comprising a plate for supporting a magnet, bull ring support meansmounted on said plate and extending over a magnet, means on said bullring support means for holding a bull ring in an upright position, andguide walls extending upward from said plate on either side of a magnetfor guiding a magnet into its proper resting position beneath said bullring support means.

2. Apparatus for storing an electromagnet and its associated bull ring,comprising a plate for supporting a magnet, support members mounted onsaid plate on either side of a magnet and extending over a magnet, andseat members for supporting a bull ring mounted on each of said supportmembers above a magnet.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said seat members have meansfor maintaining a bull ring in an upright position.

4. Apparatus for storing hoisting equipment, said equipment including alink chain and main link for engagement with a crane hook member, saidapparatus comprising a supporting frame, two spaced apart seat membersmounted on said frame for holding a main link, and means adjacent saidseat members for maintaining a main link in an upright position, saidframe having an opening between and below said seat members, whereby achain is allowed to depend freely from a main link.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 including guide means located adjacentto and extending above said seat members for guiding a main link as itis lowered onto said seat members.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 including vertical guide walls mountedon said supporting frame adjacent said seat members, said wallsconverging toward each other near said seat members so as to guide ahook member as it is passed horizontally into the eye of a main link.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,698,318 1/1929Norton 211182 2,626,711 1/1953 Saul 211-13 2,828,023 3/1958 Berra et al211-13 2,966,319 12/1960 Todish et al. 248--13 FOREIGN PATENTS 618,9734/ 1961 Canada.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR STORING AN ELECTROMAGNET AND ITS ASSOCIATED BULL RING,COMPRISING A PLATE FOR SUPPORTING A MAGNET, BULL RING SUPPORT MEANSMOUNTED ON SAID PLATE AND EXTENDING OVER A MAGNET, MEANS ON SAID BULLRING SUPPORT MEANS FOR HOLDING A BULL RING IN AN UPRIGHT POSITION, ANDGUIDE WALLS EXTENDING UPWARD FROM SAID PLATE ON EITHER SIDE OF MAGNETFOR GUIDING A MAGNET INTO ITS PROPER RESTING POSITION BENEATH SAID BULLRING SUPPORT MEANS.